Golf tee



Patented' Dec. 2, 1930 PATENT OFFICE WILLIAMv n. BALDWIN, or NEW Yoax,N. Y.

GOLF TEE Application med October 10, 1928. Serial No. 311,675.

Im ortant objects of the present invention are, 'rst, to provide anextremely simple, compact, chea and satisfactory golf tee; second, toprovi e such a golf tee designed to in- 5 dicate the direction of adrive; third, to pro- .vide a tee formed of readily severable sheetmaterial so that if left upon the grass a lawn mower may berun over itwithout injury; and fourth, to provide a tee designed to serve l as acheap and effective advertising means.

Other objects will appear hereinafter.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the tee with a golfball resting upon it;

Fig. 2 a side view of the tee; Fig. 3 a top plan view of the tee; Fig. 4a section taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

ig. 5 a section taken on the line 5-5 of Fi .3;

F ig. 6` a bottom plan view of the tee; Fig. 7 a top plan view of aslightly modied form of tee; and

Fig. 8 a section taken on the line 8--8 of as Fi y eferrin to 1 to 6inclusive, my improved gol tee is ormed of a single sheet of stiffmaterial which is cut and pressed to form a shell-likebody 1 having aconvex upr surface, a concave ,lower surface and a substantiallyelliptical contour in lan. At the 'top of its `conveiiity the body 1sformed with a small circular opening 2 to form a seat for a golf ball.This opening lies on the Ina.

l jor axis of the oblong plan of the body and 1s spaced slightly ocenter, toward what will be referred to as the rear end of the tee. Theupper convex surface is provided with a dimotion-indicating mark -3vwhich extends from the hole 2 outwardly along the major axis to theopposite orufront en of the tee. In the resent instantie the mark 3 is,in the form o? an arrow whose head extendsfto., the front edge of thetee. -However, any other suitable mark ma be used. Rearwardl of the hole2 the bo y 1 is cut and pressedy inwardly to-'dene a tail 4 for thearrow mark 3. The arrow tail is formed by notching the rear end of thesheet formin the bod 1, as at 5, and pressing inwardly a ong two 'nes 6-gether in a small s ace for carrying and which diverge outwardl fromthe hole 2. The bifurcated form of t e arrow tail makes it clearlyvisible under the shadow 0f a ball upon the tee. Also, the inwardlypressed form of the tail forms a ridge within the tee which reinforcesor stitfens it. The arrow head and tail are in direct alinement alongthe plan of the major axis and, in effect, they form two cooperatingsights at opposite ends of the tee for lining up the direction of flightof the ball. Location of the point of ballsupport toward' the rear endof the tee, and the depression of the latter to provide the arrow tail,provide a good clearance at the back of the ball for the golf club.

I prefer to make the tee of cheap sheet material having suilicientstiffness to retain the shape of the tee. It is desirable that thematerial be readily severable so that if left upon the grass the teewill not injure a lawn mower. In practice I have found that the stiff,water-proofed paper usually used to make paper spoons serves thepurposevery satisfactorily. Other sheet materlals such as celluloid, rubber,tin etc. may, however, be used.

The tee forms an excellent carrier' for an advertising legend. In Fig. 6a legend 7 is shown upon the under side of the tee. It is preferablyplaced upon the concave under surface for protection to revent its beingwashed off or obliterated by impact of the golf club.' The tee isexceedingly cheap to manufacture and its shell-like form adapts a largenumber 'of tees to nest compactly toshipment. They ma e very acceptable,eective and inexpensive advertising articles for freev distribution.

The use of the tee materially aids the golf player. He places the teeupon the ground with the arrow pointing in the direction of the drive,and places the ball upon the tee. The tee is slightly longer than thediameter of a golf ball and the two registering sights extend outwardlysuiliciently to be clearly visible to the layer from his stance osition.

vThey relieve im of the necessity o looking along the course repeatedlto get his drive direction properly and ena le him to concentrate hisgaze'in the direction of the ball. 100

In Figs. 7 and 8 is shown a tee 1a similar to the form just describedexcept that an arrow 3", a ball-receiving depression 2a and anadvertising legend 7 are all im ressed or indented in the upper convexsur ace of the tee.

The impressed arrow and ball-receiving depression serve to reinforce andstiffen the tee, and the impressed advertising matter may be moreconspicuously located upon the 10 upper surface of the tee withoutdanger of vsahing off or obliteration by impact of the c u While I haveshown and described two very satisfactory forms of my invention I do notwish to be limited strictly to this disclosure, but reserve the right tomake such changes as will lie Within the scope of the claim.

What I claim is: A olf tee comprising a still, shell-like body ormed ofa single sheet of readily severable sheet material, substantiallyelliptical in plan, having a convex upper surface and formed to supporta ball at a high point of its convexity, said ball support being locatedat an intermediate point on the major axis of the body; an arrow on theupper surface of the body co-incident with the major axis thereof andextending from the ball su port longitudinall to the opposite front anrear margins of t e body, the tail-of the arrow being formed by atapered depression in the shell extending from the ball support to themargin of the shell and defining a substantially V-shaped cleft in theoutline of the rear margin directed toward the ball support to cooperatewith the portion of the arrow at the o posite side of said support forindicating the direction of a drive.

o In testimony whereof I hereunto alx my signature.

WILLIAM E. BALDWIN.

